TUESDAY AUGUST 29, 2017 VOLUME 107 ISSUE 01
DEFENDING THE FIRST AMENDMENT SINCE 1911
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Back to School Special Edition
Historic Harvey spares San Marcos
President awards employee of year By Ryan Kirby News Reporter @rymanman Michelle Aguilar, senior administrative assistant in the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion, has been awarded 2017 Texas State Employee of the Year for her service on campus and in the San Marcos community. “I love helping the community,” Aguilar said. “My mother was the same way. She instilled that in us when we were little. We’ve always stuck to what she said. When someone needs a helping hand, we are there.” Aguilar’s award highlights the rising attendance of students visiting the Student Office of Diversity and Inclusion. “SDI works with everybody underrepresented: LGBTQIA people, veterans and we hustle as a team,” Aguilar said. “I think not only did I win it, but we all won the award.” Artie Rose-Hernandez, Texas State alumnus, believes this win is important for all the people protected and included in the SDI Office.
Old Main, Aug. 26 during Hurricane Harvey. San Marcos was under flash flood warnings through Sunday morning. PHOTO BY S HAYAN FARADINEH
By Shayan Faradineh News Editor @shayanfaradineh Harvey, both as a hurricane and tropical storm, canceled classes, interrupted residents' power, pushed back sorority recruitment and flooded into residence halls over the weekend. Harvey started as a tropical storm Friday and continues to cause devastation in Houston, other parts of East Texas and Louisiana. The city of San Marcos took precautionary steps to the weather by opening the emergency operations center Saturday through Monday morning. The center acted as a 24/7 staffed hotline for non-emergency disaster-related questions. After the day of heavy rainfalls, the San Marcos Activity Center opened at 11:30 p.m. for residents to take shelter. One resident and three travelers utilized the shower, bathrooms and open area rooms. Laureen Chernow, Hays County communications manager, said the center was ready for whatever course the
storm took. “We (were) prepared for all kinds of issues: downed trees, power lines, flooding and power outages,” Chernow said. Prior to landfall in Rockport, Tropical Storm Harvey evolved into a category 4 hurricane. The National Weather Service reported winds of 55 mph would hit San Marcos. Due to early weather reporting, President Denise Trauth emailed students Friday, canceling classes on Aug. 28. Texas State canceled activities begin-
ning at 5 p.m. Friday and throughout the weekend. New Student Convocation, the finale of Bobcat Preview, was canceled. San Marcos remained under flash flood warning until 4:45 a.m. Sunday. Although San Marcos didn’t flood as expected, rainfalls and high speed winds created power outages for over 500 residents in San Marcos, nearly two percent of the city’s utility customers.
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Board of Regents approves 10-year growth plan
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The railroad bridge at Five Mile Dam Aug. 26 during flash flood warnings. San Marcos recieved less rain than anticipated. PHOTO BY SHAYAN FARADINEH
President Denise Trauth's desk Aug. 19 during the Board of Regents quarterly meeting. PHOTO BY S HAYAN FARADINEH
Student Government launches initiative to bring free textbooks to Texas State By Shayan Faradineh News Editor @shayanfaradineh Student Body President Connor Clegg and Vice President Jackie Merritt spent the summer meeting with professors, faculty and administrators to bring open educational resources to the university. Open educational resources, OERs, are teaching and learning materials such as lectures, videos, quizzes and textbooks freely available online for students and professors. The resources are written by faculty and professors across the country. The Clegg-Merritt administration is proposing legislation in Student Government for at least 10 introductory-level courses to phase in OERs. The initiative comes from a desire to provide quality resources for Texas State students while reducing the semester-to-semester cost of academic materials. “We wanted to positively affect the most students we possibly can,” Merritt said. “OERs grant students quality resources and will save students money.” This initiative allows professors to customize their curriculums with more resources available. Faculty members will be able to use multiple platforms and combine their favorite parts of materials to create their desired curriculums. Due to the licensing of OERs, professors may pull information and tools from as many resources as they please. Students would have open access to all those resources. Magen Huntley, theater freshman, flips through a Psycology book Aug. 21 at the University Book Store. PHOTO BY HANNAH FELSKE
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By Denise Cervantes & Shayan Faradineh Editor-In-Chief & News Editor @cervantesdenise & @shayanfaradineh ALPINE— As Texas State continues to break the enrollment record for the 19th consecutive year, President Denise Trauth presented a master plan to the Texas State University System Board of Regents to address the university’s growth. The plan was unanimously approved. It provides detail of renovations and additions to the San Marcos and Round Rock campuses, as well as STAR Park. The university’s master plan seeks to develop the campus over the next 10 years. PAGE 2 BOARD
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